Road-wheel of vehicles.



W. WRIGHT;

ROAD WHEEL OF VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED 001215, 1909.

1 ,042,74:3. Patenteii Oct. 29, 1912.

, ing an auxiliary hub fastened thereto, which WALTER WRIGHT, OFCOVENTRY,

RDAD-WHEEIL OF VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application flled October 15, 1909.. Serial N0. 522,834.-

; Patented Oct. 29, 1912.

To all ci'hom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, lVAL'rsn \Vmonr, a sub ect of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Stonelaw 2 Stoke Park, Coventry,

in the county of Warwick, England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Road-\Vheels of Vehicles, of which the following is aspecification. This invention relates to road wheels of vehiclescomprising amair hub fitting around the axle and a wheel body, includisnormally secured on the main hub but is adapted to be readily detachedtherefrom.

It has been proposed to provide a wheel for road vehicles with adifferential nut or sleeve screwed internally to fit a threadedextension of the axle, and externally with a thread of somewhat finerpitch than that of the internal thread to fit a correspondingly threadedextension of the wheel hub. T iis arrangementis such that when thedifferential nut is screwed home it acts to hold the wheel on a keyedand tapered portion of the 25.,axle and when the said nut is unscrewedit exerts a'powerful pull on the wheel to dislodge it slightly from itsaxle. Before the said nut can be operated it is necessary to remove therease'cap and before the wheel with its hu can be completely displacedfrom the axle by hand, the said nut has to be removed from the axle.

{It is the chief object of th present invention to so adapt a difierentl nut or sleeve in relation to the wheel body and its main hub, that therotation, of the said nut" displaces the wheel body with t necessitatingthe removal of any of the p rts 'ofthe main hub. i

According to the prese tr invention a sleeve is provided with exterhaland inter'nal. screw threads which are adapted to en age. withcorresponding threads on the w eel body and main hub res ectively, thesaid threads being so arrange relatively to each other that the rotationof the said sleeve in one direction causes the wheel body to move axiallon the main hub so as to be displaced there rom, while rotation in thereverse direction causes the wheel body to be drawn into position on themain hub. The said screw threaded sleevev may conveniently be in-theform of an extension of the ordinary on said cap.

hub cap, and a pawl may be provided gaging with suitable teeth formed onthe sleeve for locking the'same in position.

In order that my said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried'into effect I will describe the same more fully with referenceto the accompanying drawin s, in wh1ch:--

*igure 1 is. a vertical sectional elevation of one constructional formof the invention. F1 21s a perspective view of'the' hub'cap, an Fig. 3isafsectional view-of a detail.

In these drawings, theivheelbody which is' provided with an amusemenwhich has a' flange A" to whichtlfe nave plate passing through the wheelbody. auxiliary huh-is screw-threaded interiorly with preferably s uarethreads-a ofsubstantial itch andt e main hub B threaded exterior-1y witha thread b ofifiner pitch than that inthe auxiliary hub A but of thesame sense,.-.preferably main hub is attached tofthe axle B in anleft-handed.- L The 4 A is connected by means'of bo'ltsia .'The saldfil)usual manner and is provided with :bal

bearings B; v

The hub cap .C is formed with an inwardly, directed cylindricalextension or sleeve C which normally occupies a position intermediatethe auxiliary hub A and main hub 'B and is suitably threaded exteriorlyand interiorly to correspond with the threads a and 6 formed on theauxiliary hub .and main hub r ectivel The outer partof the cap is preerably eft lain the v end being formed with a hexagona head C orotherwise fashioned so as to facilitate: its rotation by a spanner thehead C is adaptedto receive a-screwthreaded I c for the insertion of akey for'rotatingrthe same; The cap C is securelv lockedom rotationafter. the wheel bod the main hub, by means of a'pawl D on the wheelbody engagingwith teeth D The said pawl is mounted between a plate iiand the nave plate A and is retained in position by means of a set screw(1' which passes through a slot 4 formed in the said )awl D. A springcontrolled plunger E which normally closes a 'hole in the nave plate Alto exclude dirt, is adapted to be moved longitudinally against theaction ease cap 0 having suit able;holes y is fixed on formed or key.The end of of its spring 0 by means of a key, the end of which enters ahole- 6 formed in the plunger E. When the said plunger is moved into therecess E", the key can be rotated and a bar thereon engaging with a slot0 in the pawl D, the latter is moved out of or into engagement with theratchet teeth D.

The drive is transmitted by means of studs G fixed in the main hub, theheads G of which engage in holes formed in the flange A One, G (Fig. 3)of these driving studs has a conical head G which engages in acorresponding conical hole 9 formed in the wheel A, the said conicalhead also serving the purpose of preventing the wheel rotating whenbeing drawn on or oil the hub.

To provide for the wheel centering itself accurately when in positionand to partially relieve the cap C of the weight of the wheel, theperiphery-of the flange A of the auxiliary hub A is of conical form andfits within an annular conical recess a formed in the face of themainhub. This arrangementalso allows a space between t-he'end of the screwedsleeve 0 and the bottom of the saidrecess to. provide for the travel ofthe cap Gwh'en the wheel body is being removed.

,- In operation, when it is desired to deta the wheel from the main hubthe aforesaid pawl D is first raised 'out of action in any suitablemanner so as to leave the cap C free to be rotated. The wheel body whichis prevented from revolving 18 then drawn oil the threaded part of thesaid cap by screwing the latter inward on the main hub. In attaching thewheel body the reverse operation takes place, a. e. the wheel body isslipped over the cap up against the threaded part thereof and 0nthe saidcap being then screwed outward the wheel body is drawn on to the mainhub and subsequently locked by causing the aforesaid pawl to engage theratchetteeth on the cap.

.The amount of axial movement. required tobe given to the cap C tocompletely detach the wheel bod need only be a fraction of the necessaryaxial travel otthe latter and is determined by the ratio of the pitch ofthe threads a and b on the exterior and interior surface respectively ofthe sleeve 0 of the cap C.

According to an alternative construction the innerand outer,t.ln-eads onthe cap C hereinbefore described instead of being of the same sense maybe of: opposite sense or direction the efiect of which would be torequire the said cap to be manipulated in an opposite manner to thathereinbe'toro described in attaching and detaching the wheel body, 2'.e. the wheel body would be attached 'byscrewing' the cap inward insteadof outward before while outward rotation of tliesaid cap would detachthe wheel body.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis:--

1. In a road wheel structure for vehicles, a wheel body, a main hub, anda sleeve having external and internal screw threads arranged toengagewith corresponding screw threads on the wheel bodv and the main hub:

respectively, so that the rotation of said sleeve on said main hubcauses the wheel body to move axially on the main hub.

2: In a road wheel structure for vehicles. a wheel body, a main hub, anda sleeve having external screw threads of considerable pitch arranged toengage with corresponding screw threads on the wheel body. and alsohaving internal screw threads of smaller pitch arranged to engage withcorresponding screw threads on the main hub..

In a road wheel structure for vehicles, a \vheelhody, a main hub, and ahub cap having external screw threads of considerable pitch arranged toengage with corresponding screw threads on the-wheel body, and alsohaving internal screw threads of smaller pitch arranged to engage withcorresponding threads on the main hub.

4. Ina road wheel structure for vehicles, a wheel body, a main hub, anauxiliary hub forming a part of the wheel body, a sleeve 1 'vingexternal screw threads of considerable pitch arranged to engage withcorresponding screw threads on the auxiliary hub. and. also havinginternal screw threads of smaller pitch arranged to engagewithcorresponding screw threads on the main hub, a flange on the auxiliaryhub, driving studs fixed in the main hub and engaging in holesformed insaid flange, and a conical head to one of said driving studs engaging ina corresponding'hole in the wheel body.

5. In a road wheel structure for vehicles, a wheel body, a main hub, anauxiliary hub forming apart; of the wheel body, a sleeve having externalscrew threads of considerable pitch arranged to engage withcorresponding screw threads on the auxiliary hub, and also havinginternal screw threads of smaller pitch arranged to engage withcorresponding screw threads on the main huh, ratchet teeth on. theperiphery of the sleeve and a pawl movable on the wheel body andnormally engaging with the ratchet;

teeth to prevent accidental rotation of said sleeve.

(3. In a road wheel structure for vehicles, a wheel body, a main hub, anauxiliary hub forming a part of the wheel body, a sleeve having externalscrew threads of consider able pitch arranged to engage with correspnding screw threads on the auxiliary hub, and also having internal screwthreads of smaller pitch arranged to. engage with corrcspoinliug screwthreads on the main hub, ratchet teeth' onthe periphery of the sleeve, aflange on said auxiliary hub, a nave plate arranged on the outer surfaceof the wheel body, means for tyingthe nave plate to the flange of theauxiliary hub, and a .movabie pawl adapted to engage with the ratchetteeth.

7. In a road wheel structure for vehicles,

, a wheel body, a main hub, an auxiliary hub v forming a part of theWheel bod a sleeve 4 having external screw threads consider able itcharranged to engage with correspon in screw threads on the auxiliary hub,an also having internal screw threads of'smallerpitch arranged to engagewith corresponding screw threads on the main hub, ratchet teeth on theperiphery of the sleeve, a flange on the auxiliary hub, a naveplatearranged on the outer surface of the wheel body, means 'for tyingsaid nave plate with the flange of the auxiliary hub,

a plate mounted on the wheel, a pawl between said plate and the naveplate arranged tq'engage the ratchet teeth, and means for retagning saidpawl in engagement with said "rate ,8. In a road wheel structureforvehicles, a

et teeth.

a wheel bedy, a main hub, an auxiliary hub forming a part of the wheelb0dy,'a sleeve having external screw threads of considerable pitch arraned to engage with corresponding screw threads on the auxiliary hub, andalso having internal screw threads of smaller pitch arranged to engagewith corresponding screw threads on the main which said pawl is mounted,and a spring controlled plunger normally engaging with a hole in saidpawl and in said nave plate. In testimony whereof I ailix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

YVALTER WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM SMITH,

FRANK TAYLOR.

